Press Release – CHICAGO (Nov 28, 2011) – M-1 GLOBAL welterweight (170 lbs.) champion Shamil Zavurov will defend his title in a rematch against Yasubey Enomoto in the main event M-1 Challenge XXX live on SHOWTIME on Friday, December 9 at 11 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the west coast) from The Hangar at the O.C. Fair and Event Center in Costa Mesa, Calif.
Zavurov (18-1), a three-time world champion in Combat Sambo, two-time champion of the CIS in hand-to-hand combat, winner of international tournaments in wrestling and Wushu Sanda and champion of Dagestan in Wushu Sanda, Zavurov has accumulated more than 50 victories in combat Sambo and 50 victories as an amateur / semi-professional MMA fighter. Flying under the radar of North American fans until recently, Zavurov has amassed a vault of experience and holds an impressive 18-1 record.
After the successful defense of his belt last year Zavurov spoke about his opponent saying, “This was one of the most important fights in my career. Enomoto is a really good fighter and dangerous opponent. The stronger the opponent, the more you learn from the fight and the more you improve as a fighter yourself. It was a really hard fight for me and I am glad I came away with my belt.”
Enomoto (8-3) is coming off two wins over Rafal Moks (Majority Decision) and Josh Thorpe (Submission, Triangle Choke). Prior to that, he stepped in as a last minute replacement for an injured Rashid Magomedov to compete against M-1 Welterweight champion Zavurov. Taking the fight on eight days notice, Enomoto lost via unanimous decision in a full five round battle. “I’m going after that title one way or another”, said Enomoto after the loss. “Zavurov has my belt. I asked him to give it to me once and he didn’t let me take it. Looks like I’ll have to work a bit harder to get to it.” Enomoto knows this is his opportunity to become champion. He knows what to prepare for and that the win will not come easy under any circumstances.
In the co-main event, Francisco Drinaldo (10-1) will take on Alexander Sarnavsky (15-0) in a lightweight (155 lbs.) bout. Also featured on the televised portion of the event will be a rematch between Jose Figueroa (10-5) and Artiom Damkovsky (9-6) in a lightweight bout. In their first meeting this past July, Figueroa violently stripped Damkovsky of his lightweight title by second round TKO. Figueroa lost the title to Daniel Weichel in Moscow at M-1 Global’s “Fedor vs Monson” event. Tyson Jeffries (7-6) will take on Eddie Arizmendi (15-5) in a middleweight matchup. And opening the evening of fights on SHOWTIME, Alessandro Ferriera (10-1) will take on Bao Quach (18-10) in a featherweight (145 lbs.) bout.
“This entire card is expected to be extremely entertaining from start to finish.” said Evgeni Kogan, Director of Operations at M-1 GLOBAL. “We are very excited for these fights and excited to have our fourth event with SHOWTIME”.
Tickets are priced at $75 for the front row and all other seats at $50 and can be purchased online at www.fightcluboc.com, or by calling Roy Englebrecht Promotions at (949) 760-3131.
Mauro Ranallo will call the action from ringside with Pat Miletich serving as expert analyst. The telecast will be produced by Chuck McKean and directed by Craig Farrell. The executive producer of SHOWTIME Sports is David Dinkins, Jr.
For information on M-1 Global, go to the official M-1 website, www.M-1Global.com and M-1 Global Facebook fan page
For information on SHOWTIME Sports programming, including exclusive behind-the-scenes video and photo galleries, complete telecast information and more, please go to the SHOWTIME Sports website at http://www.sho.com/sports.
About M-1 Global:
Founded in 1998, M-1 Global (www.M-1Global.com) has established itself in the realm of mixed martial arts (MMA) as the premiere entity for discovering and developing the world’s next-generation of superstar fighters. With offices in St. Petersburg, Amsterdam, New York City, Washington DC, Los Angeles and affiliates in Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, Tokyo and Paris, the M-1 brand has staged over 70 events worldwide including the M-1 Selection and M-1 Challenge events and its co-produced Strikeforce events in the United States. Captivating the live, television and broadband audiences with its superior production values and match-ups, M-1 events boast some of the sport’s top names including Fedor Emelianenko, Andrei Arlovski, Aleksander Emelianenko, Gegard Mousasi, Alistair Overeem, Ben Rothwell, Melvin Manhoef, Roman Zentsov, Stephan Struve and rising stars Shamil Zavurov, Guram Gugenishvili, Alexander Sarnavskiy and Vinny Magalhaes. 2011 marks a breakthrough year with two Selections tournaments across Eastern & Western Europe, North America and Asia and a full calendar of Challenge events fuelled by a talent-rich contention system ranking M-1 Global’s Champions amongst the greatest in the sport.
M-1 Global’s greatest asset is the number one heavyweight fighter in mixed martial arts history, Fedor Emelianenko. With daily coverage on all MMA-related websites in the world, and articles in Time Magazine, LA times and New York times, Fedor and M-1 Global make a lifetime match serving as the catalyst to grow MMA in the 21st century.